Tough Life
by TheAOkay
Summary: Untitled knows she isn't the best at doing things. She had no stamina, no physical strength, and no clan. She had grown up in the wild, all alone. One day she meets a clan cat. He denies her request to let her see the clan. But curiosity got the better of her. Will they allow a cat like Untitled into their clan? Will she finally be accepted?
1. Ch 1

**New story. Yay.**

The aching feeling in my stomach was starting to get worse. It has been a few days since I last ate. I guess I shouldn't be complaining. There are cats somewhere that are in a much worse situation. The cold wind was enough to keep my mind of the hunger. Where had I ended up anyway? What was poking my side? So many questions left unanswered. Wait, I could answer these questions. I looked to my side and saw a large twig. That was one question answered. My spot was so warm though, I didn't want to move. A howling sound broke the silence. It was probably just the wind. I heard the howling again, but it was closer. Okay, still could be wind. Maybe I should stretch my legs. The moment I exited the rotting log I was met by an odd looking cat.

"Hello?" I said. A low growling sound came from the cat. Before even getting the chance to react, the thing jumped on me. A terrible howling sound came from it. Okay, that was definitely not wind. Quickly, I shook its grip off and began running. The ground was barely coated with white stuff, I think it's snow. The snow was just so bright I could barely see. Suddenly a different cat ran across the path I was following, almost making me run into it.

"Hey!" it yelped in surprise. I continued running, even though I'm not very good at it. My legs had been numb for a while, but this is the first time it is affecting me. My running stopped when my legs gave away. The cat ran over to me and began talking.

"Who are you?" they asked. "And what are you running from?" two great questions that I was not sure of. Before getting to answer the questions, that large cat thing ran into the clearing. The nicer cat mumbled to himself and looked at me. "Run. Follow me." they said. Reluctantly, I did. We began running for what seemed like forever. The only time we stopped was to see if it had stopped following us.

"Why does that cat want to hurt us?" I asked. The friendly cat looked at me in surprise.

"Cat? In what world is that a cat?" they answered.

"If it's not a cat then what is it?" I meowed.

"I don't know where you're from but you are obviously stupid."

"Hey!" I snapped. Stupid? Me? Well… I think I actually might be. I had grown up in the wild my whole life. I have been alone since I was a kit. My mother had died from unknown causes. It was pretty sad. She still had one kit inside her. It died too. My whole life was spent finding shelter and food. I sometimes saw cats but my mom had told me to stay away from them.

"Who are you anyway? A rogue? 'Cause you don't smell like any other clan." their words troubled me. What was a clan? What was a rogue? Who am I? I think they may have seen the troubling look on my face when I thought about these.

"What are you? Are you a clan?" as I said this the cat looked at me and laughed.

"You are stupid, that's for sure." they looked me up and down. My fur was all mangled and probably had lots of burs in them. Unlike other cats, I have a large line running down my back. Kind of like those black and white things that smell back. I think it was called a skunk. Ya, a skunk. My fur was only two colors. White and black. The line on my back was black. The rest of me was white. Well, maybe a bit brown from the lack of grooming.

"Do I look weird to you?" I asked. The cat made a sound that was close to a groan and sigh.

"You're a stray aren't you," it said.

"Whats a stray?" I asked. Again it made that sound.

"A stray is a cat without a proper home. Left behind to die."

"But I'm not dead." I told them.

"Anyway, I can't bring you to the clan. It would break the code. You have to leave." its words shocked me. I didn't want to be alone. After years of being alone this one interacting had made me very happy.

"Can't I go with you? I don't want to be alone." I stated. The cat seemed mad at my request.

"No. You can't." they snapped. Suddenly I got the best idea. I would follow them to their 'clan'. Whatever that was. I would need to stay far enough behind though and not make any noise. The cat turned away and began walking. I waited. Soon he was far enough away that I could begin to follow. I wonder what his clan is? How many cats will be there? So many questions that I must answer and see for myself...


	2. Ch 2

**Okay. Next chapter. Sorry if there are any errors.**

Man, this cat was giving me quite a workout. He hasn't even once stopped to catch his breath. His clan must be far away. Hey, voice in my head? What do you think awaits? Food and shelter I bet. (Just so you know, the voice in my head's name is Stump. He is responsible for giving me ideas). I skidded to a halt when the cat I've been following slowed down. Quickly, I ran to hide behind a tree. I looked around the tree and couldn't find the cat. I walked over to where they once were and looked around. There was a large bush in front of me. Not just one bush but a whole line of them. It was an odd idea but I stuck my head through the bushes and hit something. The thing was warm and I hit it it yelled.

"Hey!" a voice said. Something began to push me and a fell backwards. A cat, larger than me, appeared from the bush and growled.

"H...Hullo." I managed to say.

"Who are you?" they asked. They were also baring their teeth.

"That's a good question." I answered. I guess there was a scared look on my face because they kinda backed down.

"Who ever you are, leave." they said strictly. "You don't smell like the other clans."

"Redclaw? What are you doing?" a different voice called. He groaned and told me to follow him. It was an odd request because just a second ago he told me to leave. I'm just guessing they're a he. I don't have a very good mind because all cats look alike. I may want to learn a little. Redclaw(still guessing that it was that cat) brought me through the barrier thing. The inside was unlike anything I have ever seen before. There were lots of cats just sitting around talking. Instead of being happy at seeing all these cats I felt sad. They must live such a simple life, eating, sleeping, and talking with who ever they choose. They were blessed with that.

"Who is that?!" a voice said, it sounded like the one before.

"Found her at the entrance." Redclaw said. The cat he was talking to had brown fur.

"Why in Star Clan would you bring her in here then?" said the cat in surprise. I think we all heard a yelp because we all turned to where it came from. The cat I had followed was standing behind Redclaw.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" they yelled. "Did you follow me?" they were up in my face now.

"S...Sparkflame? You know this cat?" the brown cat asked in surprise.

"You need to leave now. You shouldn't even be here!" Sparkflame shouted, ignoring the question.

"What is all this noise?" another voice called. How do you keep track of all these cats?

"This idiot-" Sparkflame was cut off when an orange cat pushed him. The orange cat looked me up and down before speaking again.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" again with those questions.

"She says she doesn't know who she is." one cat answered.

"I wanted to see what a clan was." I said proudly. "But I have to say, it doesn't look very fun."

"If it doesn't look fun then why don't you leave!" shouted Sparkclaw. The orange cat gave Spark an evil look.

"You're a stray correct?" the orange cat said. It was more like they were stating it then asking. I nodded. "I'll give you a warning and a tip, stay out of our territory and don't follow random cats you just met." his words shocked me. I didn't think he would be this strict. Before any other cat could say anything, I ran out through the bushes and ran. Where was I running to? Probably anywhere that I don't have to ask to be. I...I just wish they know what it feels like to be alone and get turned down. I just wish they knew...


	3. Ch 3

**To answer a question: Untitled is a very dumb and stupid cat. Since she had grown up in the wild(all alone) she had no one to educate her. She can't tell a badger from a cat because she doesn't know what a cat should smell and look like. She also doesn't know much about clans(giving her no idea about Star Clan and the Dark Forest). Hopefully these answer a few questions that you may have. So, let the story begin.**

I woke up when a cold thing hit me. Upon closer inspection it found a small chunk of snow. I think it fell from the tree I was currently hiding under. I was still sad that I got turned down. Aren't clan cats supposed to be nice towards others? Isn't that the point of having clans? Oh, what would I know? I'm just a low-life stray who knows nothing about the world. Randomly I whacked a tree in rage. As a result snow came pouring out of the tree, onto me. Whatever, let this snow bury me. No one will care if I'm dead.

"Hey!" a voice called. It was probably in my head, but I couldn't help but see who had said that. I dug my way out of the hole and was greeted by a brown cat. It might be a girl based on its skinny body. She had soft grey eyes, I couldn't help but look in.

"Um… I'm fine." I said. Making someone worry about me seemed mean.

"Actually, you are not fine. You're covered in snow, probably have frostbite all over, and you found a really crappy shelter." she said eyeing me.

"Don't worry about me. I'm used to it." I told her. She leaned in close to my face and began talking.

"You don't look fine. Have you been crying?" I turned away from her and began to shake the snow out of my fur.

"What do you want? No one ever acknowledges me. Why should you?" She gave me a sad look and sat next to me.

"You've been hurt before. It's no wonder you look depressed." again she tried to cheer me up. I was happy that she was trying but someone probably told her too. "I can help you. Give you food, shelter, and loving friends." To be honest, her words tempted me. This is the first time I was offered anything.

"To take something from you that you need would be bad." I said, not completely understanding what came from my mouth. She looked confused too.

"Listen, my name is Starlight and I _will _help you, even if you do try to deny." she said strongly. Starlight was a pretty name. If only I had one… Any way, she began to circle me, looking me up and down.

"Um… I think I'm untitled. I honestly have no clue." I once heard a few cats call me untitled. I'm not sure if that's a name or not.

"Untitled? That's not a name." she nudged my side. "Come live with me and I'll not only give you shelter and stuff but I'll give you a name." Okay, I know it was a silly reason, but her deal got to me. If I could pick anything in the world to have, I would pick to have a name. That's it.

"If I go with you I'll get a name?" I asked.

"Well duh. You can't walk around having others call you untitled." she looked at me and smiled. "It's sad you know. Seeing another suffer. That's why I'm helping you. And we could use one more cat." I returned her smile but she began walking. Starlight looked at me and nodded to follow. I did follow, but little did I know where we were going. Sorry, I like saying that. It's an odd thing to do but hey, what do I know. I followed her for a long time. The only times we stopped was when I fell behind. Starlight was faster than me. I hope to improve in every skill. Yes I suck at physical things, but I suck even more at mental stuff. I always learned things by myself. I learned what to eat and what to avoid, this was learned the hard way. Well, I also taught myself how to hide my emotions, but I was always bad at hiding whenever I got sad. Don't ask why or how I taught myself this because I'm not too sure myself.

"Um… Miss Starlight. How much longer?" I asked. I felt bad asking this because maybe she didn't know. Suddenly, Starlight slowed down and I almost ran into her. Well, I actually slipped on the ice and couldn't stop myself

"Woah!" she yelped just barely dodging my body. I stopped sliding when I rammed into a large tree. I don't know why but I think the tree yelled as it fell over. After shaking the snow out of my face I saw that the tree I hit was actually a cat. My mistake. I was never very good with my eyes. Most times I can't tell a human from a rock. Is that bad?

"Starlight, what the heck!" the cat screamed. "When I tell you to go hunting I meant go HUNTING! Not to bring a dull minded cat back." Dull minded? That's mean. Oh...wait, Never mind. I am dull minded...I think.

"They could be of use to us. And I made a promise that I plan to keep. If she were to stay-"

"Alright, alright. Gesh. Just please, talk with the leader." the tree/cat said, cutting off Starlight.

"Leader? Are you part of a clan?" I asked. Truly I did not want to be rejected again. "The last clan I visited denied me." both cats gave me a sad look. I, of course, shrugged it off.

"Any way, let's bring you inside." said Starlight said nudging me. I did follow her inside. Well, maybe I should explain. Star had brought me to a large building looking thing. Maybe a barn. Anyway, she brought me inside and it seemed like I had walked into heaven...


	4. Ch 4

**Hullo again all readers. This is another chapter and things happen.**

Inside the odd building it was surprisingly bright. There were a few holes above us. I was just surprised at the lack of cats. There was clearly a lot less than the first clan I visited. Most stood around talking. Others looked at me when I walked in. Starlight called my name, making me turn to look at her.

"In here." she said, pointing her paw towards a different hole. This hole was like a tunnel. I walked over to in and looked inside. I was surprised to see a cat laying in the hole (By the way, the hole is in the wall). Well, it wasn't really surprising to see a cat in there, what caught me off guard is that they were looking back at me.

"Hullo." I said. The cat crawled out of the hole.

"Starlight, who is this?" the cat asked. Star walked out to them and whispered in their ear. He told a while to think. They just sat there and stared at me.

"Name?" he asked

"Don't have one yet." I replied.

"Skills?" he asked. Why so many questions?

"I can survive without food for long periods of time. I'm also pretty good at hiding." I replied. He nodded and looked towards Starlight.

"You may join us, but expect harsh work and plenty of training." he said. I was really happy by this. I was finally being accepted. I don't care about being worked hard, all I care about is the cats(or things) that support me during it. That probably didn't make sense to you, but it did to me.

"We need to give her a name." Star brought up. The cat from the hole nodded. Okay, maybe I should explain what he looks like. His fur is thin and neat. He is the color of the night, black. His eyes are a very strong red and his size is fairly large. That's why I didn't see him, at first, in the hole.

"Well, first off, my name is Night. This place you are in is home to my group. We have spent quite some time here without disturbance and I plan to keep it that way. To bring a new member to the group so suddenly I'm sure coming big is soon to happen." he walked closer to me. Night was a giant compared to me. I'm sure I was about the same age as Star (I was still smaller than her).

"Your name shall be Skunk." he said with a stern look. Both me and Star looked at him with an odd look. "That was a joke. And clearly a bad one." he said, shaking his head.

"How about we name her Strider?" Starlight said. Strider was a nice name. Night seemed to agree.

"Strider. That name fits you." he said looking down at me. "You will soon find out that our group can be very serious. Unlike me." as he said this he made a really goofy face that made me laugh. When I finished laughing I looked at night and our eyes met. He had a nice smile on his face.

"I hope you will make this place your home, Strider." Starlight said. Finally it felt like I had a family. I smiled real big.

"Starlight, why don't you take Strider on a tour." Night said. Star nudged me and walked me around. I'll tell you what I saw. There was a second level above us that seemed to have a few cats laying on it. There was straw laying all around, in a few places it was in a pile. In those piles of straw there were a few cats. I guess the piles were beds. That was nice. I couldn't see any food though… Oh wait, as we walked closer to the other side of the barn thing I saw a large pile of animals. They were all dead, yay! This place was huge, it could probably fit a whole clan.

"Each cat gets their own bed." Starlight said while pointing at a straw pile. "This one is yours. Remember that it is this one. Others get mad if you mess with theirs."

"How often do you eat?" I asked.

"Every so often we have a good hunting week. During that week we eat about two-three times a day. Other days we can eat as little as a few bites. Prey is hard to come by because we have to hunt if clan territory some time." Starlight stopped and caught her breath before beginning again. "We have our own little territory that we can hunt in. All around this structure is our hunting ground, nothing more."

"Okay, why do a few cat sleep up there?" I asked while attempting to point at the upper level.

"Only sick cats and the medicine cat can be up there. By sick I mean sick just sick, no injured." she said.

"Oh. Okay. For what reason do you have to live in a barn?" I asked.

"That's a dumb question, but I will explain." Starlight said. I believe I'm in for a long story….


	5. Ch 5

**Kind of a short chapter. Sorry.**

"That's what," she said. Finally Starlight had finished her long history of the group. She said the group was called Domites {pronounced Doom-ties}(it was a completely random name I was told). It was a pretty boring story so I won't tell you about it. We sat there in silence for a while before Star began talking again.

"We need to clean you up. You look like you took a bath in mud." she said this with a snicker.

"Hey, it's not my fault." I told her. She turned towards me and smiled.

"Sit. I'll try my best." Star said, now with a serious face. I think I heard her mumble about how long this would take. She told me to turn around and look elsewhere. I wasn't sure what she was doing but it scared me. I think she began licking me. I'm not sure because I freaked out and whacked her away.

"What are you doing?" I yelped. She looked confused.

"Cleaning you! Gesh, what's wrong? Haven't you ever been washed before?" she looked at me and smiled, well, more like laughed. "Have you ever clean yourself?" she asked.

"Um… No. Never learned how." I said. Yes, I know. I'm a cat, I should know how to clean myself. Still, I grew up without anyone to tell me how to do stuff. It is a very simple thing to do, I think. Use your tongue to lick your fur. Wait, I think I've done that before, not to my body but to my paws.

"Okay, wow. Strider, that is just plain sad." Starlight said. She began laughing again.

"H...Hey! It's not my fault my family died." I said. Suddenly the mood changed. Everything seemed so gloomy. Starlight looked at me with a sad look.

"Barely anyone here has a family." she said. "Most were born into this but have died due to attacks and battles." I couldn't stand the look on Star's face. It was so sad. I looked at her and smiled.

"We all have suffered loss. It's up to us to learn how to deal with it." I told her. We traded smiles before she spoke again.

"You are really nice." Starlight said. "I can't believe anyone would abandon you." I think both me and Star heard a deep growling noise because we both looked surprise. It took me a second to realize that my stomach was killing me.

"Sorry. That was me." I said, embarrassed.

"You may want to get something to eat." Starlight said. She motioned from me to follow her. We walked for a while and soon stopped. A cat was playing with a piece of straw but stopped when they saw us.

"Well hello there." the cat said. He was most likely a tom. "What can I do for you?"

"Mistypelt, this is Strider. Strider, this is Mistypelt." Starlight said.

"Oh, hello there. You must be new." Mistypelt said, smiling. I have to admit, he looked like a nice cat.

"Misty, could you please get Strider something to eat. After you get her something please tell her about the basics of the clans, rogues, and, well, just everything. Answer any questions she may have. I've got something to do." Star said right before she started walking away. Mistypelt looked at me and smiled.

"I'm just guessing that you have eaten a mouse before. Have you?" Mistypelt asked. I nodded. "Good" he said. "Stay here." he got up and soon came back with two mice in his mouth. He set on down in front of me. Misty sat across from me and began to eat. I ate too.

"So." he said. "Where do you want to start?"


	6. Ch 6

**Sorry if this chapter is a bit confusing. Also, sorry for making these chapters short.**

Okay. Before I tell you what happened I should probably explain some things. Mistypelt is a bluish grey color. This place I'm in, it is a broken/rotting barn. How do I know it's a barn? I don't actually, it kind of just looks like one. Don't ask how I know what a barn is, please. Anyway, I don't know where this place is located but I do know it's in the forest somewhere. Is that normal for a barn? Maybe it is. Also, I never did make my age clear. I'm about 15 moons old. Maybe I'm too late trying to explain these things but oh well. Anyway, this is what happened next…

"Clans are a collection of cats that all help each other but all are controlled by one cat." Mistypelt explained. I'm not sure if what he said was true but whatever. "They split up a large area of land so all have a certain amount of territory to hunt in. They also use this amount of land to increase the size of the clan." I still didn't know whether or not what he said was true. I'm sure most of it was true, but still. Maybe Misty wasn't educated correctly either. He stopped talking for a second and stared at me.

"W...what?" I asked. He continued to stare at me.

"What would you like to learn about next?" he asked. Misty already basically told me about everything. Rogues, clans, humans, kittypets, and and many more things. He taught me so much my mind hurt. Randomly, he began chuckling.

"I'm surprised that you haven't gotten bored yet." he snickered.

"H...Hey!" I said, embarrassed. "I find this stuff interesting. I didn't even have a clue what Star Clan was before you told me." I smiled at him.

"That's a relief. Most cats say I'm very dull and whenever I talk they fall asleep." again he began laughing. This made me laugh also. Our laughing fit was soon ended when Starlight came.

"Looks like you two are having fun." she said. "You actually learn anything or did you just mess around the whole time?"

"I learned plenty of things." I told her. Star smiled and placed her paw on my head.

"Your head doesn't look any bigger." she said.

"M...My head supposed to grow?" I asked her, panicked. I didn't want to learn if it would make my head bigger. Starlight was now in a fit of laughter.

"Of course not." she said in between laughs. "Why would your head grow?" as she finished her laughing fit I stood up and stretched my legs. It had gotten late and I felt tired.

"I'm sorry. May I get to bed? I feel pretty tired." I yawned. Before I could walk away Star stopped me.

"When you first make your bed, dig a small hole in the straw. Make sure to keep a small layer above you because it can get pretty cold." Okay, I'm pretty sure whatever Star just said didn't really make sense but it did to me. I walked over to my straw pile and started making my bed. It was easy to remember what pile was mine because on one of the sides there was a large wood thing. Maybe a box. Soon I had my bed finished and almost instantly fell asleep when I got inside. Sleep was one of my many fears. Why? You'll find out soon enough. While I'm still awake let me get some things out of the way. The so called leader of Domites, Night, I'm pretty sure he has something going on with Starlight. I think this because of the way he looks at her. Even their names match. Night is nice and all but he has much more to worry about. I'm just one more mouth they need to struggle and feed. Mistypelt, on the other hand, I have no clue about his life. Does he have a mate? Why is he in Domites? Star actually told me that this group was for outcasts and loners. Eh, I'll worry about him later. But my one great fear is that I will once again be cast out because my ability to fail everything I do. I hate myself. Even a kittypet can do lots more things then I can do. I can't even tell when I have been injured (it's stupid, I know). I've forgotten what pain is. How? I'll give you one hint. Torture. Lots of torture. Imagine being torture so much that you forget what pain is. That's all I wish to say. Still though, Star and Night gave me something that can't ever be faked. Family...


	7. Ch 7

**Yay. Another chapter. Things happen.**

_Cold winds blew at high speeds. There was no shelter around for a long time._

"_Hang in there mom." I squeaked. There was no response. I tried to make mom get up but she wouldn't move. "Mommy?" she was cold as a rock. She moved just a bit when I poked her. Mom brought her face up to mine and smiled a sad smile._

"_Go. Find a home." she said. Before I could get a word out she fell limp. I screamed for her to wake up. She stayed on the ground._

"_What about brother?" I asked, sobbing. "What about brother?" I had always wanted a sibling. But when mom died so did brother. He wasn't even born yet. I was about the age of 1 moon. Mom had left me. I layed down and pressed by cold body against her. Maybe she could still be saved. Maybe I didn't have to be alone. But what a silly thought that was._

_I ran through the forest, beasts on my trail. The terrible howls echoed in my mind. Suddenly I tripped and fell towards the ground. I think my leg had broken. One of the large beasts jumped onto me and began clawing. I don't know who much time had passed but all I do know is that I can't feel my bottom half. I looked down and saw what horror the beast had done. I won't explain it because it was very gross. I sat in pain for so long, slowly losing consciousness. What does death feel like? Will all my suffering end? Turns out it didn't. A passing human had been so nice and took me to a structure. It was warm in the structure. Much warmer than the cold Fall outside. They placed me is some sort of blanket and placed me in a moving box. Whatever happened after that is unknown. But soon they brought me back to the warm structure and gave me food. It tasted kind of weird. I guess the trust I gave the human was wasted. Almost everyday I was beaten. I think it was a different human beating me. There were four in this structure. But after days of beatings I was kicked out. Trust me when I say 'kicked' out. From that point on I had forgotten what pain was. I was about 3 moons old when I was 'kicked' out._

_The warm light of the sun quickly turned into rain. It's weird how fast that can happen. One second it's all nice and lovely the next second everything is an utter hell. The rain soon turned to snow. The snow soon turned into hail. I still hadn't found a shelter so I hid under a bush. I was not immune to the falling rocks. This weather lasted for about half of a day. I still can't believe what nature is capable of, and I was yet to learn. Later in the month a large wind storm struck. Well not that large but still big. It. Was. Devistating. At that time I wasn't living in the forest. I was living somewhere far away. My troubles were just beginning though. After the storm was done I ran. I just wanted to get away from everything. What I found I thought would help me, but it only hurt me further._

_A hole. No, a cave! Maybe I can shelter here. What a mistake that was. Inside the cave was dark and cold. I found a furry thing and quickly ran out. I don't know where this cave was, but what I knew is that a bear was sleeping inside. There go my chances of getting any shelter..._

"Hey Strider!" I heard a voice calling. I jerked awake from my dream, thank Starclan for that. The last part of my dream is the worst. I believe you know most of my backstory now. Don't worry, I'm still alive aren't I? I no longer bother with my past because I know it will keep me from living. I may have 'died' many times but I'm alive now.

"Hey, Strider." the voice called again. I looked to see who it was. Mistypelt was staring at me.

"Oh, hallo." I said. "How long was I out?" He seemed to think for a while.

"Maybe about half a day." he replied. "How often do you even get time to sleep?"

"Probably about every two days or so." I answered. Misty looked shocked.

"That must be tough." he said.

"I'm used to it. Anyway, why did you wake me up?" I asked.

"Oh, since there aren't many cats in our group we have to all work. Today I'll show you the way we run things." he said, smiling. I crawled out of my 'bed' and followed Misty outside. The sun was really bright, but was so warm. Snow still coated the ground and the trees were still bare. Oh, by the way I usually don't sleep very well but that 'bed' of mine was so comfortable. Yes, it was kind of odd to sleep in straw but it actually is quite nice. Misty and I walked for a while. We soon came across a large flat area.

"What's this?" I asked.

"This is Willow Lake. When the weather is cold, like it is today, than we can cross it. On the other side is where we can hunt freely. That area is not claimed by any clan." he explained.

"Why?" I asked.

"That, I don't know." Misty said. He looked at me and smiled.

"Before you start hunting, I must show you how to fight." he said, smirking. Before I could do anything he jumped onto me, claws out...


	8. Ch 8

**Hey yo. This is kind of a different chapter but oh well. Let the story begin. ^-^**

Mistypelt leaped at me and attacked.

"Hey! What the heck." I snapped at him. I stepped out of his way and he fell onto the ice and stood back up.

"I want to see who well you are at combat." he said. "Attack me."

"Why?" I yelled at him. "Why do I have to?" Randomly I felt my eyes get wet. "Why must I hurt you?" Now I was really crying.

"Hey, hey." Misty said. He was now standing in front of me. "Why are you crying?"

"I...I'm done hurting anyone. I can't stand to see anyone hurting." I cried.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in a soft voice.

"I'll tell you later." I said. "I'm sorry for crying." I told him.

"Hey. Don't apologize." he said. "I may not know what happened in the past but does that matter?"

"It does this time." I told him. "Well, let's start the job okay? I'll be fine. If I must hunt for food that I must, well, hunt for food." This made both me and Misty laugh. The mood changed to cheerful again. Before you say anything it was stupid for me to burst out crying like that, but if you knew my past, or the last part of my dream, then you would know why I did.

* * *

So, we never did actually get a chance to hunt because a surprise storm started. We could tell it was coming because everything felt odd. We barely even got back to the shelter. There was so much snow that you couldn't see six feet in front of you. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but there still was a lot of snow. By the time we did get back to the shelter, we were soaked. It was hard to move around the shelter without getting any straw on me. I just sat in an empty(as in no straw) area and laid down. The spot was behind a large box thing. I fell asleep for some time but little did I realize that I wasn't cold. As I slowly woke up I saw a grey blob. This blob turned out to be Misty.

"M...Misty, what are you doing?" I asked quietly. He shifted and press his body against mine.

"You looked cold. I was cold also." he replied, sleepily. This cat was surely delusional. Actual, this was nice. Never once had I felt the warmth of some cat else. It felt nice. So nice that I fell asleep once more…

* * *

_Cold air blew through my fur. Not this again. Well, there's no use avoiding it. The last part of my childhood. There was a brown cat sitting front of me. She kept telling me to eat. After not eating for days this is was nice. The cat told me to follow her, and I did. She told me I was going to be of use to her. Before getting a chance to react, she attacked. Constantly clawing at me. It hurt. Not the physical pain, but something different. I had been tricked, betrayed. It...hurt. Anger filled me and I jumped onto the cat. I pinned her to the ground and began biting. First at her throat, then her face. Warm blood filled my mouth. She screamed in pain as I dug my claws into her underbelly. Slowly I felt the her getting colder. Life soon faded from her eyes. It...didn't hurt any more. I felt better. But the thing that scares me is that I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the energy I was now filled with. Suddenly I started balling. I'm probably 4 moons when this happened. I just layed on the ground and cried. I didn't stop crying until the next day… _

_Faces… Of whose? Wait, it's the brown cat from before. Her face was deformed. She looked like a zombie. I won't go into detail what she looked like but it was nightmare inducing, but one of her eyes hanged out of it's socket. The other was missing completely. Her fur was stained red. The horrible thing was that I had actually done that to her. That's what she looked like when I was done with her. A terrible gurgling sound came from her throat, in which I had ripped out._

"_You'll never be accepted." it groaned. "Everyone will look at you and see a monster." the thing is, I believed her. I keep telling myself that I killed her in self defence, but that's still only a lie. A lie I wish was real._

"_You're wrong." I snapped at her. "I was accepted. I will be someone, everyone wants to trust."_

"_Are you sure?" she moaned. Suddenly, I was looking in a puddle of water. A cat was looking back at me. Wait, that was me. I shouted in surprise at what I saw. My face was black, I was all black. My eyes were bright red. My fur had blood all over it._

"_A black cat always starts white." the zombie moaned. "It is events, no, choices in their life that causes them to blacken. Black is the symbol of darkness. Your soul is becoming dark." I screamed at what she said. Horror filled me when the 'dark' version of me attacked. Their attacks had no mercy in them. She struck with such strength that I couldn't stop her. She seemed to attack me forever. When it finally ended I was looking into the water. What was looking back at me was terrible. My face was torn up and my eyes were dark. I looked worse then the brown cat._

"_One day you will be torn apart by everyone." she whispered in my torn ear._

"_No, no." I cried._

I snapped out of my dream with wet eyes. Misty was looking at me. He was clearly worried.

"Strider, are you okay?" he whispered. "Was it a nightmare?" I couldn't even respond to him, I was crying so hard.

"I'm sorry. If you haven't figured it out, I cry a lot." I told him after my crying fit. Misty smiled at me.

"Let's go to our beds now. The floor isn't the best place to sleep." he silently snickered. How long had it been anyway? My fur was completely dry but I was still cold. Misty got up and stretched before walking away. It looked dark outside. I got up and walked towards my 'bed' and crawled into it. I just realized that it is so much colder alone...


	9. Ch 9

**Kind of a long chapter, sorry about that. But hey, it's a chapter.**

I didn't dream for the rest of the night. Actually, I might have dreamed but I don't remember it. The next day I woke up pretty early. Barely anyone else was awake so I just walked around. Outside was really bright. The snow covered almost everything. I just realized something. If Starlight had never found me and asked me to join this group I would most likely be dead. Even after plenty of winter days this was the worst I have seen. I did find was to keep warm during the other winters, but I could still be freezing to death without the help of Starlight. It's funny how if one event had never happened in your life everything would be different. Actually, it's not funny, it's scary.

"What's with the worried look?" a voice asked. I looked up and saw Star.

"Oh, hallo." I said. "How are you?"

"I'm swell. What about yourself?" Star replied. I told her I was good and then she told me to follow her. Star brought me to the place I first met Night. He was sitting in front of the hole, waiting.

"Strider, how are you?" he asked me.

"I'm doing much better than before." I told him.

"Why's that?" he replied. I took a moment to think so I didn't say something weird.

"What I mean by before is about a moon ago." I began. "Now isn't really the time to tell you, I think." Night looked at me and smiled.

"I'm glad you feel that way." Night said. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about a special job."

"Job? Like a hunting job?" I asked. It was odd that he was asking me to do a job. I've only been here for about two days

"Ha. No, not a hunting job." he looked at me. "Your skills will allow you to do this job without any trouble." What Night said still questioned me. Before he could continue talking, a strong, cold breeze blew through the shelter. The wind seemed to shake the barn a bit. I could hear the structure moaning under pressure. Night mumbled something under his breath and walked towards the entrance. It was blocked with snow, which means this snow is really deep now. There was a low chance of us actually being able to dig out.

"Night, what will we do?" Star asked. Night looked at her and spoke.

"We cannot leave today. We are blocked in. It's too much of a risk to dig out of here." Night began. "Everyone will just have to eat the food in here, which isn't a lot." Star sighed and walked away.

"I'm guessing I can't do my job then." I told Night. He nodded and told me I could leave. There wasn't much to do inside this shelter. Many sleep was an option, but I'm a bit bored of sleeping. Maybe I'll talk with Misty. He's got to be bored also...hopefully. Turns out I didn't need to find Misty, he found me.

"Hey, Strider." Misty called, catching my attention.

"Oh, hullo." I said. "Turns out the entrance is blocked. We can't really go anywhere." I told him. Misty sat quietly for a second.

"That disturbs the plans I had in store for today." Misty said. "I was going to show you around the forest, point out a few important things."

"Even if the entrance wasn't blocked I could go with you." I said.

"Why not?" Misty asked, he sounded kind of nervous.

"Night told me he had a job just for me." I said happily. It wasn't until then that I saw the sad look on Misty's face. It was soon replaced by a smile.

"Well. Good thing the entrance was block or I wouldn't be able to spend the day with you." he said. I just sat there when he said that. I was shocked. If cats could blush I would be blushing. We both began laughing.

"So, we are stuck inside with really nothing to do." I said. Misty almost seemed to jump from his spot as he stood up.

"How about I introduce you to some of the group members." he said happily. "There are a total of fifth-teen. Oh, wait. Six-teen counting you." I did like the idea of meeting other members. I'm sure they already know I have join. It's kind of obvious actually. Anyway, Misty told me that we could not meet the cats on the second floor for reasons I don't know. So that left 9 cats to meet on the ground level. The first cat I met was named Gingerly(age, maybe 17 moons). I bet he got that name because of the color of his pelt. He was really funny. Gingerly was really happy that I joined and couldn't wait to get to know me more. The second cat was a female. Her name was Antilo. She was about 19 moons old. Antilo was quite bitter. She, of course, was glad there was a new member but she disliked almost everything about me, like my fur, my eyes, my voice. Don't ask how I know thing. Next was an elderly cat named Jimper. He. Was. So. Nice. If he were younger I would love, love to be friends with him. His voice was rough but still kind. The fourth cat was a 7 moon old cat. His name was Wed. He was bitter, mischievous, and just plain bad. I don't have any clue why these cats are named this way. Misty told me that they get to name themselves. I found that kind of hard to believe. And yes, I do plan to tell you about all the cats I meet. It might be important later… Anyway, the next cat I met had a normal name, Leafwind. She told me to call her Leaf though. She was the same age as me, but quite smaller. Leaf had a very bouncy attitude. Also known as mood swings. She was mostly happy. One big thing I noticed about her is her bright green eyes. That and she likes to brag. The sixth cat was about 25 moons old and was named Rush. She was in good shape and she was nice. By good shape I mean BUFF. She looked so strong. I bet she could break bones. That was kind of disturbing but whatever. The Last cat I 'meet' was kind of odd. I couldn't tell what their gender was, I'm sure Misty couldn't either. They had really long fur and a fluffy tail. Their fur was brown, yellowish, white, grey, and brown. Whenever I tried to say something to them they responded with,"uuh-hu". Misty told me their name was Spickle. That made the cat seem even more odd. I guess today is going to be boring so I won't tell you the rest, unless something interesting happens.


	10. Ch 10

**I'M SORRY! Prepare yourself, feels are coming.**

Turns out nothing interesting happened the rest of the day. I talked with Misty for a while but that got boring, I could tell Misty was bored also. We decided to hang out with a few other cats and that got boring also. After a good night's sleep I woke up and stayed in my bed(just to let you know I didn't tell you about a lot of the days I've been here. It's been about a moon since I first came to Domites Yes, I know. I skipped telling you what 'fun' I had sitting around the shelter). To me it kind of looked like a bird's nest. Slowly I began to fall back asleep.

"Strider." a voice called, making me snap awake.

"Hullo?" I whispered. I still had trouble keeping my eyes open.

"Strider, wake the heck up." the voice called again. Only know did I hear the panic in the voice. I crawled out of my bed and stood up. Rush was staring at me, fear in her eyes. She motioned with her head for me to follow. I had to run to keep up with her. By the way, this shelter is really big. It could fit one hundred cats and still have lots of room. That might be wrong but you get the idea, it's a big place. Rush brought me outside to where all the other cats had gathered. The snow had melted quite a bit. The other cats seemed to form a circle around something. A few stepped out of my way when they saw me. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him. Misty laid on the ground, his blood all around. I walked a bit closer to him and saw Night and Star sitting quietly. His blood was soaked into the snow.

"Strider, I'm so sorry." I heard Star say. "We…" her words were drowned out by the screaming in my head. My eyes burned hot and my legs felt weak. I thought I had forgotten what pain was, but seeing the dead body of Misty… I nudged Misty with my paw, he was ice cold.

"M...Misty?" I cried. "Wake up." The cat around me began to walk back towards the shelter.

"Strider." a voice said.

"Misty." I sobbed. I laid down and put my head on him. "DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" I cried. "Don't leave me alone." It hurt so much. My whole body ached. I now know what dying feels like. Imagine, after living with your mother for so long and giving her all your love. Imagine that that mother, after raising you for years, left you. No, not left you. Imagine she attacks you. Leaving you injured beyond repair. Leaving you all alone in a forest of pain. Leaving you to die alone. I don't care if that didn't make sense. If you hadn't noticed the one who cared for me just died! I sat there outside crying for a long time. Star sat next to me in silence. There was no way Misty could still be alive. Those injuries could not be faked. I...I don't want to tell you about his injuries, but it was worse than when I killed that one cat. The sun was now directly overhead. It had been half a day full of crying. After I finished crying I sat up and looked towards the forest.

"These are wounds from a cat." I told Star.

"Strider, he's gone now. There's nothing you can do." Star said.

"LIKE HELL THERE ISN'T!" I yelled at her. I felt my eyes burn again. "We...we could still help him. We could find the one who did this." Star sighed and looked at me, it seemed like she was looking into my soul.

"We can't do a thing about his death." Star said. "but we can try to help stop this attacker."

"This isn't the first time?" I asked. If this has happened before then there is a chance it will happen again.

"My brother. My brother was the first victim." Star said.

"And you didn't even try to find this guy?" I snapped at her. She seemed shocked at my words.

"Of course we tried." she said. "We gave up when we let him go." she snapped back. "You should just let Mistypelt go!"

"I will drag his death with me wherever I go." I began. "I will never forget because when someone you care for dies and you could have done something to prevent it, you feel like hell." I snapped, almost about to cry again.

"There wasn't anything you could have done to stop him from dieing." Star said with a soft voice.

"Lies. That's all I hear. Lies." I said. "We could have stopped this."

"Sto-" Star didn't get the chance to continue what she was saying because I ran. I ran through the forest towards the place I knew I could find them. It was their fault. They killed Misty. I will make them pay...

**AU**

**SO SORRY! This was a sad chapter. If you hate me for killing Misty then hate me. I hate me also. I wanted to let him live but that would have changed the whole story plot. Again, sorry if you liked Misty.**


	11. Ch 11

**So sorry for not uploading stories, I lost all writing fluid I had. Hopefuly you guys enjoy this chapter, even though it might be terrible.**

I ran through the forest, I ran and I ran, ignoring the pain shooting up from my paws. I was zoned out so much that I didn't even see as a tree in my path. With a thunk I collided with the tree. The pain didn't compare to the burning inside. Shouting out in frustration I slammed my claws into the bark. The impact shook my body as I keep clawing at the hard-as-stone tree.

"You're going to hurt yourself," a voice called out. I jerked to the source and gave the meanest glare I could. Night stood behind me, sticking out like an apple in a pile of rats.

"Leave me alone," I hissed at Night. "I know what I have to do."

"And what's that?" he asked, stepping closer. Every piece of fur on my back stood on edge. "Look, Strider, I don't know what happened in your past but this is not how you solve problems."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" I met the leaders gaze. "Just pretend it didn't happen?"

"When I first met you I told you something," he paused, "I had said that our group had gone a long time without many problems or disturbance and I will do whatever is in my power to keep it that way. Even if it means killing you." That stopped me. I've never seen Night like this, he has always been on the light side of things.

"Fine. Kill me if that's what you want," Night stared at me, processing what I had just said. "Kill me, it's the only thing that can stop my pain." I cried out. The tom stepped closer and closer until he was just a whiskers length away.

"Show me you can fight." he purred. "Than maybe I will just have to let you act out."

"I will not fight you," was all I could manage, his words hanging in the air.

"I said fight!" Night hissed, jumping at me...


End file.
